IMS Online Learning Center

Join Sharon Salzberg for this intimate series of Fireside Chats, where she sits down with some of today's most respected Buddhist teachers and longtime friends, including Christina Feldman, Ruth King, Narayan Helen Liebenson, Kamala Masters, Tuere Sala, Guy Armstrong, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Shelly Graf, and Mark Nunberg.

Inspired by the spontaneity of live conversation with an audience, Sharon brings that same unscripted energy here. Together, she and her guests trace the influences that shaped their dharma paths, share stories from the cushion, and reflect on meeting the challenges of modern life with clarity, humor, and compassion. 

This program was recorded from 2024-2026, and contains 13 hours of pre-recorded content.

A Fireside Chat with Kaira Jewel Lingo [audio only]
Sparked by Kaira Jewel's poem "Love Letter to an ICE Agent," this conversation traces her path to Thich Nhat Hanh and digs into what it really means to hold equanimity toward those who cause harm.

A Fireside Chat with Mark Nunberg and Shelly Graf [audio only]
The guiding teachers of Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis talk about building urban dharma practice on the frontlines of the January 2026 ICE raids, and the "ungovernable network of beauty" that rose up around them.

A Fireside Chat with Jack Kornfield
Sharon sits down with Jack Kornfield, a founding teacher of IMS and her friend of 50 years, tracing their early days building the center together and the teachers, like Ajahn Chah and Dipa Ma, who shaped how they both teach.

A Fireside Chat with Tuere Sala
A former prosecutor turned guiding teacher at Seattle Insight, Tuere shares how the dharma carried her through 25 years in the courtroom and her son's illness and death, and makes the case for reclaiming mudita, sympathetic joy.

A Fireside Chat with Guy Armstrong
Sharon and longtime friend Guy Armstrong dive into emptiness and not-self, from his philosophy-driven college awakening to ordaining as a monk in Thailand, closing with a short meditation on the "gradual descent into emptiness."

A Fireside Chat with Kamala Masters
Kamala's path began as a single mother who found a weekend retreat sign by chance. She and Sharon trace their shared teachers, Munindra, Dipa Ma, and Sayadaw U Pandita, and what each taught them about effort and love.

A Fireside Chat with Joseph Goldstein
Sharon's neighbor and IMS co-founder reflects on more than 50 years of friendship and practice, what Dipa Ma taught him about letting go of "I" and "mine," and his advice for newcomers: "don't waste your suffering."

A Fireside Chat with Ruth King
Author and teacher Ruth King recalls the moment a mentor's blunt encouragement dissolved years of performance anxiety around teaching, and reflects on writing, artistry, and the tenderizing work of aging.

A Fireside Chat with Christina Feldman
Sharon and Christina, whose paths both began in India in 1970, range across dukkha, equanimity, and the shift from performing dharma talks to real conversation, with Christina making a case for joyfulness as essential fuel.

A Fireside Chat with Narayan Helen Liebenson
Friends since a Krishnamurti talk in the 1970s, Sharon and Narayan sat down in the wake of a hard 2024 election season to talk about compassion as strength and equanimity as engagement without being swept away.